Rollable toy

ABSTRACT

A ROLLABLE TOY COMPRISING A CIRCULAR MEMBER FOR ROLLING ON THE GROUND AND MEANS FOR ROLLING AND GUIDING THE CIRCULAR MEMBER ALONG THE GROUND COMPRISING A HANDLE FOR REACHING FROM THE HAND OF AN OPERATOR TO ADJACENT THE GROUND AND A CONTROLLER EXTENDING FROM THE HANDLE AND ADAPTED TO PUSH AND TO VERTICALLY SUPPORT THE CIRCULAR MEMBER AS WHEN THE OPERATOR IS JOGGING ALONGSIDE OF OR BEHIND THE ROLLING CIRCULAR MEMBER.

Nov. 16, 1971 R LARA 3,619,942

' ROLLABLE TOY 7 Filed April 10, 1970 INVEN7'0/.

RA/OS/ a e [0)? United States Patent Oflice 3,619,942 Patented Nov. 16,1971 3,619,942 ROLLABLE TOY Rudy de Lara, 2700 Delor Road, Los Angeles,Calif. 90065 Filed Apr. 10, 1970, Ser. No. 27,350

Int. Cl. A63h 33/02 US. Cl. 46-220 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Arollable toy comprising a circular member for rolling on the ground andmeans for rolling and guiding the circular member along the groundcomprising a handle for reaching from the hand of an operator toadjacent the ground and a controller extending from the handle andadapted to push and to vertically support the circular member as whenthe operator is jogging alongside of or behind the rolling circularmember.

The present invention relates to hand-operable toys and, moreparticularly, to a rollable toy specifically adapted for use whilerunning or jogging.

1 An activity receiving increasing interest today by men, women, andchildren is jogging. Jogging provides excellent exercise: Unfortunately,it does have a tendency to become rather monotonous and boring.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a noveltytoy for use by joggers and others as they are running or trotting alongrelatively flat areas such as streets or sidewalks.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a rollable toyincluding a circular member for rolling along the ground and hand-heldmeans for pushing and guiding the circular member as the operator runsor trots along or behind the rolling circular member.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a rollable toyof the foregoing character which is useful in the dark and whichincludes luminous means for displaying the rolling circular member and alight source in the hand-held means for illuminating the rollingcircular member.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a rollabletoy of the foregoing character wherein the handheld element includes acontroller for pushing on a rear of the circular member and for engagingopposing sides thereof to vertically support and guide the circularmember as it rolls along the ground.

The foregoing as well as other objects and advantages of the presentinvention may be more clearly understood by reference to the followingdetailed description when considered with the drawing, which, by way ofexample only, illustrates various forms of a rollable toy embodyingfeatures of the present invention.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one form of the rollable toy comprisinga ring and a hand-held element having a light source housed therein forilluminating the ring;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the hand-held element withsegments removed;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view looking along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the circularmember illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a controller portion of thehand-held element illustrated in FIG. 1, the controller being useful inpushing and guiding the circular member as it rolls along the ground;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a disc useful as the circular member inthe rollable toy; and

FIG. 7 is an end view partially in section of an alternate form ofcircular member for the rollable toy.

' As represented generally in FIG. 1, the rollable toy of the presentinvention comprises a circular member 10 for rolling along the groundand a hand-held element 12 for pushing and guiding the circular elementalong the ground. In FIGS. 1, 3, 4, and 7, the circular member r10 isillustrated as comprising a ring of metal, plastic, wood, pr acombination thereof, while in FIG. 6, the circular member 10 isrepresented as comprising a solid disc. In each case, the circularmember 10 includes opposing substantially vertical side walls 14 and .16joined by a flat circumferential outer edge 18 as most clearlyillustrated in FIG. 4.

The illustrated form of the hand-held element 12 comprises an elongatedtubular handle 20 and a controller 22. The handle is of a length adaptedto reach from the hand of an operator of the toy to adjacent the ground.In FIG. 1, the handle 20 houses at its upper end a flashlight structure23 including a tubular housing 24 for receiving a pair of batteries andan upwardly extending housing 26 for a light 28 electrically connectedto the batteries in a conventional manner. A plug or cap 3 0 seals theupper end of the handle while the lower end of the handle receives anelongated plug 32 having a bore 34 for receiving an end of an axialportion 36 of the controller 22. The axial portion 36 is secured tightlywithin the plug 32 coaxial with the elongated handle 20. In addition tothe axial portion 36, the controller 22 includes a hook portion 38. Thehook portion 38 is of generally U-shaped configuration as most clearlyillustrated in FIG. 5. In this regard, the hook portion includessubstantially parallel sections 40 and 42 joined by a section 44substantially normal to the sections 40 and 42. The section 42 extendsdownwardly from a forward end of the axial portion 36 and connects to anend of the section 44 which in turn connects to a lower end of thesection 42 which extends upwardly parallel to the section 40.

Thus arranged, and most clearly depicted in FIG. 1, the controller 22functions with the handle 20 to provide means for pushing and guidingthe circular member 10 along the ground. In this regard, the section 44is dimensioned to extend across the circumferential edge 18 of thecircular member and substantially parallel thereto. Further, the section44 is adapted to push on a rearward portion of the circumferential edge18 as illustrated and in response to a forward pushing action of theoperator on the handle 20 to roll the circular member 10 along theground. The sections 40 and 42 are adapted to engage the opposing sidewalls 14 and 16 of the circular member and to thereby provide verticalsupport for the circular member as it is rolling along the ground. Suchvertical support is also assisted by a forward end of the axial portion36 as illustrated.

Accordingly, when a person desires to utilize the rollable toy of thepresent invention, he simply places a circular member 10 in a verticalposition on the ground and grasps the upper end of the handle 20 withthe controller 22 positioned as illustrated in FIG. 1. He then pushesforward on the handle to induce a rolling action of the circular memberalong the ground. The operator then begins to jog either behind or toone side of the circular member while maintaining the controller inposition adjacent the rolling circular member.

As previously indicated, it is a feature of the present invention thatthe rollable toy is useful at night. To accomplish this, the circularmember 10* may be coated with a luminous material as illustrated by thenumeral 46 in FIG. 4 and 48 in FIG. 6. In FIG. 4, the luminous materialcovers the inner surface of the ring and the side walls 14 and 16 whilein FIG. 6, the luminous material 48 coats the sides of the disc. Withsuch a coating, the flashlight structure 23 is employed to cast a lighton the circular member as it rolls along the ground thereby illuminatingthe circular member while rolling in the dark.

Another alternate form of the circular member 10 is illustrated in FIG.7 as comprising a channelled ring. The inner edges of the ring define atrack for receiving a ball 50 adapted to roll along the track. Withinthe track is stationed a magnetic element, in this case a magnetizedsphere 52 captured within the channel and adapted for rolling therealongwith a turning of the ring. To maintain the ball 50 within the track andadjacent the magnetized sphere 52, the ball is hollow and captures asmaller metal ball 54. The metal ball 54 is attracted to the magnetizedsphere 52, thereby maintaining the ball 50 in the track and adjacent themagnetized sphere as the circular mem ber 10 rolls along the ground inresponse to pushing action of the controller 22.

From the foregoing, it should be appreciated that the rollable toy ofthe present invention is particularly useful by joggers as well aschildren of all ages. The toy is simple and inexpensive to construct andvery easy to use both in daylight and during evening hours.

While specific forms of the rollable toy have been described in somedetail herein, changes and modifications may be made without departingfrom the spirit of the invention. It is therefore intended that thepresent invention be limited in scope only by the terms of the followingclaims.

I claim:

1. A rollable toy comprising:

a ring for rolling on the ground and having substantially verticalopposing side walls substantially normal to a flat circumferential edge;

means defining an annular track on an inside of said ring;

magnetic means in said track;

a ball for rolling along said track and for being attracted by saidmagnetic means whereby said ball rolls in said track as said ring rollsalong the ground; and

means for rolling and guiding said ring along the ground comprising anelongated handle for reaching from the hand of an operator to adjacentthe ground and a controller element comprising an axial portionextending from said handle and a hook means substantially normal to saidaxial portion for engaging and pushing forward on a rear portion of saidcircumferential edge of said ring and for engaging said side walls tovertically support said ring as said operator pushes forward on saidhandle as when jogging alongside of or behind the rolling ring.

2. The rollable toy of claim 1 wherein said track comprises a channeland said magnetic means a magnetized element captured for rolling insaid channel and wherein said ball is hollow and includes a smallermetal ball for being attracted to said magnetized element.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,162,868 4/1915 McKay 46--2203,535,820 10/1970 Thompson 46-220 2,738,619 3/1956 Oquist 462303,099,105 7/1963 Martinez 46-220 LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner A.HEINZ, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.-R. 46-45

